


Fly Away Home

by TimmyJaybird



Series: Wish I Had An Angel [13]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Body Positivity, First Heartbreak, M/M, genderfluid tim, implied sexual situations, mentions of past rape, one sided crushes, self discovery, sex positivity, someone has to have the talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 21:36:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6488263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimmyJaybird/pseuds/TimmyJaybird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vanni has learned so much, over his time with his family- but it seems there's still an endless train of experiences he has to face. Namely, his first heartbreak. But that doesn't mean the road leading from it can't be worth the initial ache.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fly Away Home

**Author's Note:**

> Posting way earlier than I usually do, but I'll be gone for the weekend and I figured, early is better than late!

Vanni sat cross legged on his bed, watching as Lian lifted up his stuffed pink owl, scrutinizing it.

“What’s its name?” She asked, turning it and looking at its big eyes.

“Hamlet,” Vanni said, “from the stories dad reads to me.” Lian scrunched up her nose.

“That’s a funny name.” Still, she hugged the owl to her chest, gave it a good squeeze. “Is it a boy or a girl owl?” Vanni shrugged a shoulder- hadn’t bothered to even think about it. Lian made a little face. “It’s gotta be a boy or a girl!”

“Why?” He asked, and Lian paused, then shrugged a shoulder.

“Uh… I dunno.” She pushed the owl towards him, and Vanni gathered Hamlet up, snuggled him. “I guess maybe they don’t.” Vanni nodded- didn’t see a reason for any sort of divide to exist at all. The female talons had never been _different_ from the male talons. They were all just one large, seething mass-

There was a knock at his open door, and Roy leaned in, flashing a smile at the two of them. “Lian are you behaving yourself?”

“Yes daddy!” She yelled, while Vanni clutched Hamlet tighter and stared. Stared at the way Roy’s hair fell over his shoulders, somewhat into his face. Stared at what he could see of his arms, beneath his tshirt- the way it was bunched up on one side, clutching to the hem of his jeans.

Roy gave them a smile, turning to leave them alone, heading back out to Jason and Dick. Vanniy forced himself to swallow, to take a steadying breath- but his heart was beating wildly, and his belly had gone even tighter than when he had kissed Damian, the way Colin had taught him.

“Are you okay Gigi?” Vanni tore his eyes back to Lian, who was looking at him like he had two heads. He forced a nod, and Lian reached out, put both her little hands on his cheeks. “You’re warm!” She exclaimed, dark eyes going big. “Are you sick?”

Vanni shook his head- he didn’t _think_ he was sick. He remembered Dick and Jason calling it a _crush_ , the strange feeling he got around Roy. At the time, it had been a hard idea to reconcile- because the word connotated violence to him, but his feelings were anything _but_.

But Vanni was beginning to realize there were a lot of words with meanings he didn’t _know_ \- and a lot of meanings that still needed words.

“I’m okay,” he said, reaching up and covering Lian’s hands, squeezing them and smiling at the child. She nodded, before pulling away, carefully crawling off the bed. She wondered toward Vanni’s desk, where Roy had set down a bag he’d brought along with a few of her toys. Vanni watched, tensing a little when she bumped the desk- worried she might knock his flowers off it- but nothing moved, and she was dragging the bag back with her, trying to lift it to get it on the bed and failing.

Vanni leaned over, grabbed the strap and tugged, hoisting it up onto the bed. He left it be as Lian jumped, grabbing at his blankets, and he pulled her up as well, watched her sprawl out on her belly. She pushed herself up, digging into her bag, coming out with a bright yellow book with a strange drawing of what Vanni assumed was a person, on the front.

“Will you read to me?” She asked, pushing the book towards him. Vanni looked down at it, wanted to reach out and touch the hard cover- but kept his fingers curled in his lap.

He shook his head. And when he spoke, his hands were lifting, moving with his words before they could threaten to catch in his throat. “I can’t read,” he said, and Lian stared at him. 

“Really?” He nodded, and Lian suddenly squirmed around, until she was sitting next to him, pushed up tight. She opened the book, pointing to the big words on the cover page. “There’s a Wocket in my pocket,” she said, her finger under each word as she said it. Vanni stared at them, and Lian grinned. “I memorized those words. The book has a lot of silly words so it’s _hard_ to read, but daddy helps me sound them out. You just have to make the sounds the letters make, and all together they make a word.”

Vanni still stared at the cover page. “I don’t know letters,” he admitted, felt a bit of heat rising in his cheeks again. He _knew_ everyone else around him did- and it made him feel _stupid_ that he couldn’t understand, like they did.

Lian stared at him, before lifting her little chin. “That’s okay,” she said, “we’ll learn! I can teach you- I’m _good_ with the alphabet.” She pointed to the first word, _there’s_. “That’s a _T_ ,” she said, pointing to the first letter. “And then _H_ , and _E_ , and _R_ , and another _E_.” Vanni said the names of the letters to himself, mouth moving silently, as Lian pointed to them, repeated again.

When she moved on to the next word though, Vanni was still trying to remember the first. By the time she was saying _Wocket_ , he was lost, and only shook his head, gently pushing the book away. _Frustrated_ over his inability to follow.

Lian stopped, frowning a little sadly when Vanni pushed the book away. She closed it, before leaning forward, rummaging in her bag again.

“Do you like purple?” She asked, pulling her crayons out and opening them. Vanni nodded, and Lian plucked out a purple crayon, holding onto it as she found some of the paper Roy had packed, in case she wanted to draw. She set a piece of paper on top of the book, settled in her little lap now. “We can start easy,” she said, “I started with my name. See?” She held the crayon, began writing slowly on the paper. Her writing was still slightly misshapen, her _A_ capitalized even when it shouldn’t be, bigger than the other letters- but it was legible, clearly her name to anyone who knew the letters. “See? _Lian_.” She pointed to each letter as she said them, and Vanni nodded.

Lian shoved the paper away, picking up another one. She settled it in her lap, and paused to focus, her little tongue sticking out.

“Tryin’ to figure out how to spell your name,” she said, “ _Gigi_ would be easy-peasy.” She tapped her crayson, muttering letters to herself, and Vanni only watched. After a minute of this, she set her crayon down, began writing. It took a minute, as she paused every few letters to spell it again to herself- but once she was done she set her crayon down and grinned. “There!” She exclaimed, pointing to the paper. “That’s your name.”

Vanni stared at it, inclined his head. Lian pointed to the first letter, “G,” she said, then, moving to the next, “I-O-V-A-N-N-I.” She paused, looked up at him, “ _Giovanni_. But, if we cover up this part,” she placed her hand over the _Gio_ , “it’s Vanni, like everyone calls you.”

“Except you,” he pointed out, and Lian grinned.

“I’m _special_ ,” she said. “I’m your first friend and _I_ get my own name.” She leaned over, got her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. Vanni turned, hugged her back- and she was so small, he could have picked her up, if he tried. “You’ll learn Gigi,” she said, snuggling into him. “I learned to read. You can too. And then you can write _my_ name on everything.”

“Why would I do that?” He asked, and Lian yawned, looking like all that writing had taken the energy right out of her.

“Because I’m special, and when someone is special to you, you write their name all over things because you can’t stop thinking about them.” She squeezed again, before flopping back onto his bed, reaching for Hamlet and rolling onto her side away from Vanni, snuggling into the owl. Vanni smiled to himself, reached out and rubbed her back as her breathing began to even out- and she reminded him of Damian’s pet, the cat Alfred he had seen prowling around the manor. How she was alert one moment and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, she was curled up and asleep.

Vanni slid off the other side of his bed, carefully walking towards his door. He stepped out into the hallway, didn’t hear much noise at all, and frowned. He walked towards the living room, found Roy sitting on the couch, one arm extended along the back, his other hand holding his phone he was scrolling through.

“Where are my dads?” Vanni asked, and Roy jerked slightly, turning his head to look at him. He exhaled, a chuckle at the end of it, offering up a smile.

“God you are too quiet,” Roy said, “scared me right outta my skin. They uh, stepped outside for a second.” Vanni nodded. He assumed it was for that _thing_ Jason did that made him smell like smoke. He’d seen people do it, in the Court, and when they had sent him out. But he hadn’t even heard the door open or shut- he hadn’t realized how intent he had been on watching Lian. “Is everything okay?”

“Lian fell asleep.”

Roy laughed at that, tipping his head back a little. His hair drifted away from his eyes, which had little crinkles at the corners from the pull of his mouth. Vanni glanced down, along the curve of his throat- thought about when Damian had pressed his mouth to _his_ neck-

He wondered if it felt different, if someone else were to do it.

Vanni fisted his hands, took a breath- and then, mind made up, moved around the couch. “She’ll be so angry,” Roy said, straightening up, “All she did the whole drive over was talk about how excited she was to see you.”

Vanni was listening, but didn’t respond. He crawled up onto the couch- and before Roy could continue, swung a leg over him and was in his lap.

“Kiddo?” He asked, “What are you doing?” Vanni took another breath, reached out to grasp at Roy’s shirt and tugged, as he leaned in, until he was pressed tight-

Until his mouth covered Roy’s.

Vanni tried to move his mouth like Damian had, before. It wasn’t easy to remember, and Roy wasn’t _moving_ for that first second- until suddenly his hands were on his waist, and he was pushing Vanni back- forcefully, but non ungently. Vanni ‘s mouth pulled away and he stared at Roy, whose eyes had gone wide.

“What are you doing?” He asked, his voice sounding alarmed. Vanni frowned.

“Kissing you,” he said, very _matter-of-factly_.

“Yes, but… kiddo, you can’t just do that.”

“Why not?” Vanni asked, pulling his hands back so they could move, while he spoke. “Kissing is _nice_. Dads both said I had a _crush_ on you, and that makes me want to _kiss_ you and I don’t know why.”

Roy’s eyes softened then, and he reached out, brushed his hand along Vanni’s hair. “It _is_ nice,” Roy said, “but you can’t just kiss anyone. You have to make sure they want you to.”

“Do you want me to?” Roy shook his head- and Vanni frowned. “ _Why not_?”

“Because it’s not appropriate. Vanni, you’re a kid. _I’m not_. I look at you just like I look at Lian. There’s certain things you do with people your own age, and certain things you _don’t_ do with say, someone my age.”

“So I can’t kiss you?” Vanni asked, and his chest _hurt_ , for some reason. His eyes felt like hot cotten, and he wanted to curl in on himself, to _disappear_.

Roy shook his head. “You can kiss me like you’d kiss your dads- like Lian would kiss them.” He tapped his cheek. “But that’s it.” Vanni nodded, glancing down- and suddenly he wanted to run from the room, didn’t want to look at Roy- what if Roy was _mad_ , what if he _hated him_ -

Roy reached out then, pulled him into a tight hug. Vanni stiffened, and Roy rubbed his back.

“It’s okay,” he said, “I’m not mad at you. Okay? We’re still friends?” Vanni lifted his head, nodded, and Roy smiled. “Good. I want to be friends. I like your dads and I like you- and Lian thinks the _world_ of you.” He gave him another squeeze, before Roy released Vanni, who climbed off his lap. He turned, heading back towards his room, pushing his door shut quietly and climbing back up on his bed.

He wanted to push his face into Hamlet, but Lian had to plush owl snuggled up to her. Vanni pushed his face into his pillow instead, gave a single shudder and sucked in a breath and- _he wouldn’t cry_. He didn’t understand why this hurt, why he was _sad_ and empty and felt _lonely_. Why he wanted to disappear and why the spaces between his ribs ached like there were knives there. He sniffled, held his breath, told himself _he wouldn’t cry he wouldn’t he wouldn’t_ -

He felt the corners of his eyes sting, blinked- and then there were tears, rolling down his cheeks. He gave a very quiet sob, didn’t look up when he felt Lian moving around next to him. The kid stretched, flopping onto her back and glancing over at him, before frowning.

“Gigi?” She whispered, and Vanni glanced up at her. “You’re crying.” Vanni only shook his head- his throat felt tight and he wasn’t sure he could talk. Lian turned to face him, pushed Hamlet towards him. Vanni reached out, clutched the owl to his chest, and Lian wriggled around until she could try to cling to him. “S’okay,” she whispered, yawning. “I was sad when I couldn’t read too.”

Vanni wanted to tell her _it wasn’t that_ , but he had no words. He pushed his face into Hamlet’s head nuzzled the soft pink plush, and Lian kept going.

“I’ll leave you my favorite book. I bet Jayjay and Dick will teach you. Jayjay reads good.” Vanni still said nothing, and Lian pushed her little feet against him. “Don’t cry Gigi. Please. I don’t want you to be sad.” Vanni lifted his head at that, and reached out, got one arm around Lian and squeezed her tightly.

It didn’t stop the ache in his chest- but it kept it from getting worse.

*

“You look like you just saw a ghost,” Jason said, walking around the couch and dropping down into one of the plush chairs in their living room. Dick was in the kitchen, rummaging about. “Everything okay.”

Roy brushed his hair back, leaned forward with his elbows resting on his thighs. “Did you uh… know your… kid has a crush on me?”

Jason quirked up a brow, but nodded. “Yeah, actually. We had to explain it to him- basically pointed out that we _both_ had the hots for you once, so we get it.”

“Still do!” Dick yelled from the kitchen, and Jason shot the doorway a glare. Roy, who normally would’ve laughed at that, might’ve had a nice retort- was just quiet.

Jason didn’t like that.

“What’s wrong?”

“He uh…” Roy took a deep breath, exhaled. “He kissed me.”

“He did _what_?” Jason stared at him, and Dick suddenly appeared in the doorway from the kitchen, staring as well.

“Exactly what I just said.” Roy looked as if he didn’t want to repeat it. “I told him why he _couldn’t_ do that- but well, you two should know. You uh… you might need to have a bit of a talk with him and all.”

Dick and Jason exchanged glances, and Jason groaned, flopping back and covering his face with his hands.

“I am not prepared to give my kid the talk,” Jason mumbled. “Most parents get _years_ to rehearse this. I’ve had _months_.”

“It hasn’t really been at the front of our minds,” Dick admitted, walking out- whatever he’d been doing in the kitchen forgotten. He plopped down next to Roy.

“I don’t blame you,” Roy said, “But… well. Might have to put it there. He _is_ fourteen.”

That got another groan from Jason.

“I hope he’s alright,” Roy added, “I tried to be _gentle_. But he looked pretty upset.” Dick nodded, reached out and rubbed his friend’s shoulder.

“I’m sure you handled it better than anyone else would’ve. Thank you.” Roy nodded, and Dick glanced over at his boyfriend, who still hadn’t emerged from behind his hands. “This is probably the wake up call we needed. With the Court… we were so focused on that, and before just trying to get him to come out of his shell. But now… guess it’s time to really try to look at the whole picture.”

“You’ll do fine,” Roy tried to reassured, and Dick squeezed his shoulder, saying nothing. He stood up then, leaving the room and heading down the hallway, towards Vanni’s room. He pressed his ear to it, listening to the sounds behind- and when he didn’t hear anything, pushed gently. He liked to make a point of knocking- because they had been trying to teach Vanni about privacy- but let it pass this time.

He found Vanni and Lian curled up on his bed, the stuffed owl Jason had bought him- _Hamlet_ , if DIck paused to think on it- between them. Lian was passed out, and Vanni seemed to be sleeping too. He walked over towards the bed, noticed Lian’s bag of toys, and carefully tried to pick things up, so that they wouldn’t get knocked to the floor, without disturbing them. He found a purple crayon and tucked it back into the box, pushing that into the bag-

And then noticed the papers, thrown towards the foot of the bed, along with a book. He picked up the book, flipped it over- smirked when he read silently _There’s a Wocket in My Pocket_. Roy had mentioned how that was Lian’s _favorite_ Dr. Seuss book right now. He set it aside, flipped one of the papers open, kept his smile over Lian’s name, scrawled in her large, uneven handwriting. Still, it was getting better by the day- she was _smart_ , probably just as smart or _smarter_ than her dad, and Dick knew Roy would be in trouble one day.

She’d be restless like he was. Too smart to contain.

He set it on the book, picked up the last piece of paper- and paused. _Giovanni_. It was still in Lian’s handwriting- but Dick wondered _why_ she had written their names-

Could she have been trying to show Vanni what his name looked like?

Dick tucked the book and one of the papers into the bag, before he walked over towards Vanni’s desk, set it on the floor. He left the room as quietly as he came, gently tugging the door shut, and headed back into the living room.

Without a word, he walked over to Jason, held out the paper to him. Jason pushed forward, glanced up at Dick as he took it. “What’s this?”

“I found it in Vanni’s room.” He settled on the arm of Jason’s chair, added “they’re sleeping.”

“He said Lian passed out on him. She was up really early.” Dick only nodded, watched as Jason just _looked_ at the scrawling on the paper, before passing it to Roy, who said the moment he saw it, “That’s Lian’s handwriting.”

“It’d have to be,” Jason said, “Vanni can’t read or write.”

“She wrote her name on another piece of paper,” Dick said, “I think maybe she was trying to show him. There was a book out too.”

“Let me guess,” Roy started, “ _There’s a Wocket in My Pocket_?” Dick nodded with a smile, and Roy only shook his head- probably had it memorized, at this point.

Jason licked his lips, was quiet for a second, before he finally said, “That’s another thing we haven't thought enough about.” Dick and Roy both looked at him. “ _Teaching him_. He can’t just start going to school- he’s so far behind, and I don’t know how he’d react to that kind of environment. But… the world knows he’s here. There are laws- and I wouldn’t want him to never learn.” Jason reached up, pinched the bridge of his nose. “God, it feels like we take a step away from complications and just get thrown a bigger batch.”

“Welcome to parenthood,” Roy said, “I’ll call you crying when Lian hits puberty and gets her first period.” That got him a laugh from Dick. “To be fair, I’m rehearsing that speech _now_. Can’t have her going into teenage years blind.”

“You’ve got a little while,” Dick said, as he leaned against Jason, who nodded.

“Since public schooling is out- private even,” Roy said, “You could find him a tutor? Homeschool him.”

“Bringing someone _in here_ is risky,” Jason said, “god, we’ll have to run background checks, make sure we’ve got everything locked up. Vanni will have to know there’s _things_ we don’t tell people.”

“To be fair, he already knows that,” Dick said. “Table it for the minute, babe. You and I will talk. We’ll figure it out.” Jason forced a nod, and Dick turned back to Roy. “So, that speech- is there any part of it we could possibly borrow for our _own_ upcoming talk?”

That earned him a laugh from the redhead, and eased the growing tension in Jason’s shoulders.

*

Vanni hadn’t wanted to move, when Roy was leaving. He’d wanted to stay curled up in his bed with his face in Hamlet. He still ached, felt almost sick- and most of all, felt like he couldn’t dare look the man in the eyes.

But _Lian_ wouldn’t leave without a hug- and while it was nice to pick her up and have her cling to him, he wasn’t sure _what_ he should do once he had set her down, and Roy was smiling at him.

“It's okay,” Roy said, “if you want a hug. I still do. And if you don’t- that’s okay too.”

Vanni stared at him for a moment- aware that his dads were both showering Lian with affection now. He swallowed, nodded, and- cheeks red and burning- walked over to Roy. He let the man wrap both his strong arms around him, and pressed his cheek to his chest as he stood on his tip toes, clutching onto his shirt.

He had the urge to bury his face there and just _cry_.

“Remember,” Roy whispered, squeezing, “I’m not mad, okay? We’re still friends.” Vanni nodded, dared to glance up- and Roy smiled at him. He tussled his hair, and Vanni still wanted to kiss his hand, despite all this. Kiss each fingertip, pull his fingers apart to see if there were freckles hiding between them.

 _He hated it_.

Or maybe he just hated that he _couldn’t_.

“C’mon pumpkin,” Roy said, pulling back from Vanni and turning to take Lian’s head. “Let’s get you home before we destroy that sleep schedule we worked so hard on.”

“Daddy I’m _not_ a pumpkin,” Lian said as she pouted, following her dad out the door. Roy paused to give everyone a final wave, before disappearing with his daughter. Vanni waited until Jason was closing the door, then turned, thinking he’d go back to his room. He’d snuggle in bed with Hamlet and he’d try to figure out how to make this feeling go away.

But he'd gotten maybe two steps when he heard Dick calling his name. He stopped, glanced back, and his dad had his hands in his pockets, was looking at him _strangely_. “Kiddo, you think the three of us can have a little talk?”

Vanni shrugged a shoulder, turning back around, heading for the living room. He settled on the couch, didn’t like the nervous look to Jason’s eyes when both his dads came into the room. Jason settled on the couch next to him, sitting back against the arm, while Dick settled in the single chair.

“Little wing, we… we uh…” Jason licked his lips, cleared his throat. “We just need to talk to you about something.” Vanni didn’t like this, already. He didn’t like when Jason was nervous. Something in his eyes must have given his own apprehension away, because Jason was adding, “We're not mad at you, you’re not in trouble but-”

“Roy told us something,” Dick said, looking far more relaxed. Vanni glanced over at him, _knew_ what was coming next. “He said you kissed him.” Vanni glanced away at that, stared down at the floor.

“Did you?” Jason asked. Vanni swallowed, nodded slowly- still not looking up. He was trying to memorize every line in the hardwood floors. Jason exhaled slowly. “Okay. Can you tell us why you did?”

Vanni shrugged a shoulder, folded his arms. He gripped at the sleeves of his sweater, ground his teeth together as he tried to force words up his throat, but they simply lodged there. He sighed, and after a stretch of silence, managed, “I wanted to.”

“Okay. Can you tell me why you wanted to?” Jason still looked a bit tense, from the corner of Vanni’s eye- but he sounded far better. Gentle, that calming voice that had soothed him since his first night, in this penthouse. A voice he trusted.

He squeezed his nails into the arms of his sweater, still didn’t look up, but managed to say, “I don’t know. I like him.”

Jason nodded, glanced over at Dick, who gave him a reassuring look. “Okay. Remember when we talked about you liking Roy?”

“You said I…” he trailed off, licked his lips- and finally looked up- “had a _crush_.” The word made a little more sense now- as Vanni swore something was crushing him, from the inside. Something heavy and hard sitting on his ribs and hoping they’d splinter.

“I did. And it’s totally _okay_ to have one of those. But sometimes it’s not appropriate to act on them.” Jason folded his hands in his lap. “Roy is… Roy is too old for you, little wing. It’s okay to have feelings- you can’t control that. But it’s not okay for you to act on them like that.”

Vanni stared at Jason, before he looked down at the couch now- and he _had_ done something wrong, then.

“It is okay,” Dick said then, “to tell someone your own age you like them, tho. That’s okay baby owl. Roy is just an adult, and you’re still a kid. That makes this not okay.” Vanni glanced over at Dick now, who smiled at him. “See, remember how I said I had a crush on Roy too, when I was a kid? Well, _he_ was a kid then. And that was okay.”

“And when I was a kid,” Jason added, “I had a crush on them, too. Except I was still little too.”

“But you’re together,” Vanni said, looking between Dick and Jason.

“We are,” Jason said, “because I grew up. And when I was an adult too, it was okay. Dick’s not much older than me, but there was still a time where he was a little old for me, too.” Jason reached out, offered his hand to Vanni. “We just want you to know it’s okay to feel these things- but sometimes it’s not appropriate to act on them.”

Vanni glanced at the hand, before he took it, let Jason give him a squeeze. It made him feel a little better.

“You normally should make sure someone wants to kiss you,” Dick said, as Vanni slid on the couch, a little closer to Jason. “Just like someone should make sure you want to kiss them. Or… do anything else.” He glanced over at Jason, who swallowed thickly, and Vanni furrowed his brows.

“Vanni… how much do you know…” Jason paused, sighed, and then dove in because it seemed he had no other option, “How much do you know about sex?”

Vanni made a little face, shrugging a shoulder. Because… he _understood_ it, he was fairly sure- but what he didn’t understand was how it was something Dick and Jason could say was _good_ -

When he spoke, he took his hand back, signed out at the same time, “I don’t know how you think it’s good.” It was the only reason he could get the words out.

Dick leaned forward then, and there was this fire in his eyes- something _angry_. Not directed at Vanni, he knew- but still, it was there. “Vanni, what happened to you… whatever it was, _that wasn’t sex_. That was rape. That’s _violence_.”

“The act might be similar,” Jason continued, “but sex is about feeling good. Rape is just violence- it’s just about control. And it’s not okay.” He reached out, brushed at Vanni’s hair. “And it’s not your fault. Okay?” Vanni looked up at him, nodded slowly. Swallowed down the memories of a man who couldn’t hurt him, again.

He’d made sure of that.

“That’s why we said it feels good,” Dick continued, as Jason pulled Vanni in, wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “It feels good because we love each other, and like to make sure we both are enjoying ourselves.”

“It doesn’t have to be about love though,” Jason added, as Vanni squirmed, leaned his head on his shoulder. Jason was warm and smelled like everything good, cologne and soap and his bare skin, and it made Vanni want to close his eyes. Made him feel _safe_. “Sometimes you just look at someone and you’re attracted to them. It’s okay if that happens- and it’s okay if it doesn’t. Some people don’t feel that way. Everyone is different.”

“You’re allowed to have whatever reasons you want- what’s important is that you’re clear with whoever you’re with about what you want, and don’t want- and what they want and don’t. Consent is the most important thing.” Dick watched the two of them, and Jason nodded, adding,

“You can _always_ say no. Whenever you need to. Even in the middle of it- you can tell someone to stop. And it's not just sex… it's everything.” He leaned down, kissed the top of Vanni’s head. “You can tell us not to hug you, if you want. You can tell anyone to not touch you in anyway. It’s your body.”

Vanni glanced down at his hands. _It was his body_. That wasn’t something he had ever been allowed- his body had been _property_ , before. He belonged to the Court- they did as they pleased with him. They _took_ what they wanted.

And the idea that he could say _no_ to anything was still…. Surreal.

“I don’t want you to stop hugging me,” he mumbled, and Jason smiled, hugged him tightly.

“Okay, we won’t then.” Vanni reached up, clutched at Jason’s arms. “Does this make sense?” Vanni nodded. He _thought_ it did. “Can I ask you something?” Another nod, as Vanni relaxed more- felt less aching in his chest, now. Jason was chasing that away. “What made you think you wanted to kiss Roy? Was it from seeing Dick and I?”

Jason hadn’t forgotten how he and Dick had told Vanni, once, that you kissed someone you loved different than you kissed family. He still wanted to laugh at the slight absurdity that Dick managed to be his own first kiss, in a way.

Vanni shook his head, sucked on his tongue for a moment and thought about the fluttering in his stomach that he felt when Damian looked at him long enough. How _good_ it had felt to kiss him- all those small ones in the library of the manor. How they made his heart beat faster.

He couldn’t even explain what had happened to him, in Damian’s room- when he’d kissed him _differently_.

“I felt the same feeling looking at Roy,” Vanni said, “as when I kissed Damian.”

There was silence then, and he felt Jason straightening up. His dad’s arm loosened around him, and Vanni slid forward, turning to meet those grey eyes that were a little wide.

And behind him, Dick managed, “You kissed Damian?”

Vanni nodded. He felt a little color rising in his cheeks over it, felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Yeah,” he said, knotting his fingers together, fidgeting a little.

Jason inhaled slowly. “Okay,” he said, “And you liked it?” Vanni nodded, and then-

“I kissed him first.” Because he _had_ and he had loved the look in those jade eyes- had loved the way it seemed to make Damian _bold_. He missed him. And until that moment- he hadn’t realized he’d missed him. “It felt nice,” he added, glancing up.

Jason nodded again. He opened his mouth to speak, before he clamped it shut, and behind him, Dick had to take over. “Okay. That’s the important thing- that you both liked it.” Dick stood up then. “And this is absolutely okay. He’s… your age. It’s appropriate.” Vanni smiled at that- he wasn’t sure what he would have done, if they had told him he couldn’t kiss Damian.

“What about Colin?” He asked. “Is that okay?”

Jason and Dick exchanged glances. “Did you kiss Colin?” Jason asked, but Vanni shook his head.

“No. Damian does though.” 

Another exchange of looks. Dick cleared his throat. “That… would be okay too.” Vanni nodded, kept his smile. Colin was pretty too- and he still thought about the way his fingers gently tucked flowers into his hair. Still had those flowers, safely kept in Damian’s book, in a drawer in his desk.

“Something else,” Jason added, as Vanni pressed back into the back cushion of the couch now, so he could look at his dad. “And I don’t want to just change the subject- but I want to make sure you know that… it’s okay to feel… however you felt when you wanted to kiss Roy. When you kissed Damian. If you… you know, feel excited. That’s normal like we said. And,” he glanced over at Dick, who was still standing, had his arms folded loosely. Dick only nodded- and Jason glanced back. “And if you need to make _yourself_ feel good, that’s okay too.”

Vanni furrowed his brow- didn’t really _understand_. He couldn’t kiss himself-

He must have given himself away again, before Jason gave a little sigh, bowing his head a little. “Listen little wing… I know you’re… I know what I was doing at your age, and Dick remembers to. And if you touch yourself, that’s normal and healthy, and if you don’t that’s okay too.”

Vanni sucked on his tongue- before he realized what he was implying, and simply blurted, “ _That’s_ like sex?”

He had never made the connection. That tightness in his belly and the feeling of wanting to crawl out of his skin, that he used to get from a rush of cool night air, the scent of blood. That he got now, when he thought about how he felt in Roy’s arms for too long. That he could chase away with his hand, he’d found out.

It had always felt _good_ , so he had no reason to think it had anything to do with sex.

“It’s… not exactly.” Jason looked over at Dick, and Dick sat down on Vannis other side, reaching out to rub the space between his shoulders.

“It’s called masturbation, and it’s something private, but it’s healthy,” Dick said, and watched as Jason sighed in relief, being given a slight reprieve. “And sex can be a lot different from that, but sometimes it can give you the same good feelings.”

Vanni nodded, pulled his legs up as Jason suddenly got up, walking out of the room. He hugged his knees close, as Dick kept smiling at him.

“Your dad is a little nervous,” Dick admitted, and Vanni nodded, could still tell from Jason’s eyes alone. “Sex can be an awkward topic sometimes.”

“Why?”

“Sometimes it’s a _very_ private thing. It doesn’t have to be- but for a lot of people, it is. It’s easy to feel a little flustered talking about it. And it just means that you’re growing up- and for us, that’s hard. We got to keep you in this little stasis for a bit- but you’re not a _little kid_ and we have to face that.” He got his arm around Vanni’s shoulders, squeezed- and Vanni smiled too. A moment passed, before Dick asked with a sly little smile, “So, _Damian_ , huh?”

Vanni _giggled_ , going pink, and when he spoke, he wasn’t sure how the words came so easily. “He has pretty eyes and he smiles a lot with me,” he said, adding at the end, “He makes me feel good.”

“That’s what’s important kiddo,” Dick said, “And you know what? I bet you make Damian feel good too.” Vanni kept his smile, as Jason suddenly reappeared, plopping back down on the couch.

“Last bit,” he said, holding something between his fingers. “Sex is something you need to be safe about, junior. When you’re with someone, they have these things called condoms,” he held the tiny package out, “to make sure that, if your partner is sick, you don’t get sick. Or if you’re with someone who has a vagina, they don’t get pregnant.”

“Or for cleanup purposes,” Dick added, under his breath- and Jason _blushed_ , cleared his throat.

“ _Anyway_ , these are really important. And when you’re ready, we’ll get you these. You just come to us. You can ask us _anything_ , okay?” Vanni nodded, glancing down at the tiny foil package, before he looked back up at his dad. “I mean it. Anything. We won’t get mad- we just want to keep you safe and happy.”

Dick nodded his agreement, and Vanni looked between them- before nodding again. He believed that- despite Jason seeming a little uncomfortable, neither of them had made him feel like he'd done something bad. And he trusted them, more than anyone else in this world.

“Okay,” Dick said, “I think that’s enough for now.” He kissed Vanni’s temple. “How about you go get in your pajamas. I’ll come see you before I head out for patrol, okay?”

Vanni nodded, pushing himself off the couch and leaving the room, heading for his bedroom. He slipped inside, shut the door and flicked the light on. He tugged his sweater off, pulled his legging and socks off- stripped completely, before pulling a pair of boxer briefs from his dresser. He stepped into them, before hunting around- found Damian’s red tshirt and slipped it on as well. He pulled the collar up around his chin and mouth, to settle beneath his nose for a moment, as he plopped down in his chair. Despite being washed, the shirt still smelled faintly like Damian, and simply having it around him made him think of the other teen-

Made him feel rather secure.

He pulled open one of the drawers to his desk as he pulled his feet up, perched them on the edge of his chair, legs pressed close to his chest. He pulled out the book Damian had given him, setting it on his desk and flipping it open to the middle. The tiny flowers Colin had put in his hair were still there, slowly drying. Vanni simply smiled down at them- wanted to touch them but was afraid of disturbing them. He wasn’t sure how long they needed to stay like this-

But seeing them made him smile. Made him feel _special_ , because Colin called him pretty- because Damian had given him a book to keep them safe. Had kissed him like Vanni meant something to someone.

He hadn’t realized he’d wanted that, until he had it.

He reached up, toyed at the collar to his tshirt. He wanted to see Damian again. He wanted to see Colin again. He wanted to see the both of them smiling, because it made him happy and light, like he could float right up to the ceiling of his bedroom.

And thinking about them, it made him forget, for just a moment, that he had hurt over Roy at all.

*

“That wasn’t so bad,” Dick said, lifting his arms and stretching them up along the back of the couch. Jason gave him a hard stare, tossing the condom onto the coffee table.

“I felt awkward as hell,” he said.

“Oh, I could tell. But he _took_ it well.” Jason said nothing at that, and Dick glanced at the little foil wrapper. “Honestly, I didn’t know we even _had_ any of those lying around.”

Jason shrugged a shoulder. “There’s a few in my nightstand.” Truth be told, Jason had forgotten about them, too, until the conversation had been nearing its close. After so much time with Dick- knowing their histories now, _knowing_ they were both clean, they had long since stopped using them. Once and awhile, to make _clean up_ easier, but aside of that-

“You did turn this cute shade of red,” Dick added, and Jason reached over, smacked his boyfriend in the shoulder. Dick only grinned, got one arm around him, tugging him in until Jason fell against his chest, and Dick could awkwardly kiss the corner of his mouth.

“You’re ridiculous,” Jason said, pushing at him but not pulling away. Dick got both arms around him, nuzzling his hair, and Jason craned his neck up, pressed his mouth to Dicks throat. He shifted, grasping at his shoulders until he could pull himself into his lap, straddle him properly- lean over him and kiss him _correctly_. Dick hummed into it, hands finding Jason’s hips, as Jason rocked gently- and Dick, for a moment, forgot what they had even been talking about. “But,” Jason offered, pulling back and smiling, “I think that’s one of the reasons I love you.”

“ _You think_?”

Jason smiled, pressed his forehead to Dick’s. “I know,” he corrected, “it’s one of the many, _many_ reasons.”

Dick smiled up at him, and for a moment or two, they stayed like that- until Jason heard the sound of his phone vibrating, far off on the counter in the kitchen. He untangled from Dick, standing up- and Dick watched him leave, watched the perfect sway to his hips, the way he carried his shoulders-

And he was sure, without a doubt- no one was a god, like Jason Todd was.

Jason grabbed his phone off the counter, answering the call without looking before it could switch to voice mail. “Hello?”

“Hey Jason.”

“Timbo- what’s up?” Jason turned, heading back fro the living room. Dick watched him, as he flopped down, turning and snuggling into one of his shoulders, as Dick’s arm curled around him.

“Just checking in and all. How are things?”

“Good,” Jason offered, and mouthed _Tim_ up to Dick, who grinned and nodded. “Real reason for calling?”

Tim laughed. “You shouldn’t read me so well. Checking in on my favorite nephew.”

“Your _only_ nephew,” Jason said, “he’s… doing alright. We just had a bit of a talk.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah… he uh, kissed Roy. So Dick and I figured it was time to have… a talk.”

Tim snorted then. “I’m trying to picture you guys doing that. You’re alive so I figure it went well.” Jason hummed, rolled his eyes. “Anyway- remember how I said Vanni should come spend some time with Kon and I at the farm?”

“Yeah.” Jason tipped his head back more, felt Dick’s fingertips toying with the ends of his hair.

“Well, we may have ended up here already… and you know, if you felt like having a few days to yourselves- we’d love to have him. Honestly, Kon wants to meet this kid, and I could go for a little _fabulous_ company.”

“Hold on one second.” He pulled his phone away, let his arm flop down onto the couch. “How do you feel about Vanni spending some time with Tim and Kon? They’re out at the farm apparently.”

“I don’t have a problem with it, as long as Vanni wants to go. That’s a long ass drive though babe.”

Jason shrugged a shoulder, lifting his phone up, and Tim was saying before Jason could even speak, “Do I need to remind you guys who dear old dad is? Use the damn Batplane and make the kid’s day. The Kent’s have enough land that no one will see it.”

Jason grinned. “You just want to teach him how to make a big entrance _already_.”

“Can’t ever start too early,” Tim said, “So?”

“Yeah. We’ll ask him.” Jason nodded at Dick, who untangled, stood up, as Jason continued, “So, how’re you doing out in the middle of nowhere _rich boy_?”

Dick left Jason to the conversation, standing up and heading down, towards Vanni’s room. He paused at the door, knocked, and got a rather soft _come in_. Dick pushed it open, found Vanni sitting at his desk. The teen had twisted, was looking over the back of his chair.

“Hey,” Dick offered, and Vanni glanced over his lack of a suit. Dick looked down, before he chuckled. “Not going just yet kiddo. I had a question for you.” He walked over, leaning over the desk to look at Vanni’s flowers. They were shockingly healthy still- Vanni had kept to his word to take care of them. “Tim’s on the phone, and he was wondering if you want to spend a little time with him.”

Vanni perked up over that, dark eyes going big as he nodded. He’d had little physical time with Tim still, but that hadn’t diminished his affection for the other former Robin.

“He’s not in the city though,” Dick said, “He’s out on a farm. His boyfriend’s family owns it. So you’d be out there. We didn’t want to assume that was something you wanted.”

Vanni only smiled more. “I want to see Tim,” he said, and Dick nodded, reached over and ruffled his hair.

“Okay kiddo.” He looked down at the desk, noticed the book flopped open, and quirked up a brow. “Where’d you get this?”

Vanni glanced down at it, let his hair fall into his face. He’d taken his braid out. “Damian gave it to me,” he whispered, and Dick leaned closer, looked at the scrawling words. They were in Arabic, beautiful script against the crisp pages. Scattered over them, he noticed a few flowers. “And Colin gave me those,” Vanni added. He glanced back up, and Dick could see something in those eyes-

These meant something to him. Meant a lot of somethings.

“Damian was helping you press them, wasn’t he?” Vanni nodded. Dick smiled, and for a moment, tried to picture the kid he’d watched grow up being that _sweet_. He knew Damian wasn’t the _monster_ everyone seemed to think he was- but he also knew he made a point of taking his sweet time, getting to the caring part of him. As if he was afraid to let anyone see that. “That was nice of him. Here,” Dick reached out, gently closed the book. “How about I help you with this? We put a few books on top and give them another week, and these flowers will be nice and preserved.”

Vanni nodded excitedly, and Dick kissed his temple, before turning, heading back out towards the living room. Jason was still talking on the phone, and when he looked up Dick gave him a thumbs up. He heard, a moment later, Jason telling Tim the trip had a _go-ahead_. Dick simply smiled, walked over to one of their bookshelves. He pulled a few heavy dictionaries off, glancing at the titles- A German to English dictionary that he knew Jason hadn’t opened, probably _ever_ , and a Portuguese to English dictionary that maybe Jason might _need_ to.

He headed back towards Vanni’s room, found the kid was still sitting in his chair. He was tracing the writing on the cover of the book now, with his finger tip. He pulled back when Dick came into view, and Dick gently set both dictionaries on top.

“The added weight will help,” he said, “And in a week, we’ll look at them. We’ll have to get you something to keep them in.”

Vanni nodded, tipping his head down to look at the spine of Damian’s book. “It’s pretty,” he said, and Dick stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“What is?”

“The writing. Damian said it’s not English.” He looked back up, and Dick nodded.

“It’s not. It’s in Arabic. It’s another language Damian speaks. Jason does too- roughly.” Dick knew Jason’s Arabic was still a bit slow- but considering the amount of languages he had crammed in that head of his, he was amazed.

Vanni nodded. “Dad can speak a lot of different languages?” Dick nodded. “And read in them?” Another nod. Vanni looked down then, and Dick sighed, crouched down and pulled his hands free, reaching out for Vanni’s shoulders.

“Hey kiddo,” he said, “Jason found Lian’s writing. Was she trying to teach you?” Vanni nodded. “We’re going to get you to learn, okay? It’s a process, and it’ll take some time. But you’ve been through so much- let’s just handle this all one day at a time.” Vanni bit at his lip, and Dick reached out, tucked some of his hair back behind his ear. “I promise. Jason and I will make sure you know everything there is to know. We’re going to take care of it all, baby owl.”

Another nod, and Vanni gave a tentative smile. The kind that said, _I believe you_ -

That screamed _I trust you_.

And it made Dick smile- because he felt he had earned that trust. And he wanted to keep it- wanted to mean everything he said to this kid.

He loved him enough for that.

*

Vanni squirmed in his seat, strapped in securely. The flight had been shockingly _short_ , and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from how Jason was handling the plane. He wanted to touch every button, to know what every knob and switch _did_ , but he had contained himself.

For the most part, the view had distracted him. The fact that he was going to _Kansis_ had him almost wordlessly screaming. Dick had mentioned it that morning, and Vanni hadn’t been able to stop himself- he’d clicked the heels of his red high-tops and grinned and said _so proudly_ , “There’s no place like home!”

And home was where _family_ was- and Tim, he was _family_.

He’d gotten up early, to make sure his bag was packed, so they could make the trip into Gotham. He’d hoped to see Damian, before he left- but Alfred informed them that both he and Bruce were in the city. Vanni had swallowed down the frown over that, could forget about it as the excitement ate away at him instead. First, for the flight-

And mostly, for the fact that he was spending a few days with _Tim_. That he was going someplace new- he was meeting Tim’s boyfriend, who Jason and Dick had assured him he’d love.

They settled the plane down as gently as possible, not wanting to damage anything- and the moment Jason and Dick were pulling at the seatbelts, Vanni was already out of his seat. He grabbed his bag, running for the back as the hatch opened, the ramp extending down.

“Little wing, hang on a second,” Jason called behind him- but he was already down the ramp, red high-tops hitting the fresh grass as the sun soaked into him, blinded him for a moment. He reached up, covered his eyes, blinked against the blackness his hand provided, before lowering his hand carefully.

A few feet away, he found Tim, hands on his hips, grinning at him.

“Hey there cutie,” Tim called, and Vanni took off for him. He dropped his bag, threw his arms around Tim, who hugged him back tightly, nearly lifting him up off the ground, despite Tim’s small size as well. Vanni laughed. “I think you’ve gotten cuter kid.”

Vanni stepped back, glanced down at his leggings, at his gauzy floral button down- and simply smiled more. Tim glanced past him, when Dick and Jason finally appeared from the plane, waving them over.

“Took you guys long enough,” he said, when they reached them. “Figured you’d be here like a half hour ago.”

“I’m _borrowing_ B’s plane, I was being careful,” Jason said, and Tim simply waved him off, before Dick got his arms around him, lifted him up in a huge bear hug. It nearly knocked the large sun glasses from Tim’s face as he laughed, before he was set down and he turned, throwing himself against Jason, demanding the same affection.

“Whatever, good to see you both,” he said, when he stepped back. “Kon ran into town, had to pick up a few things. C’mon in though.” He turned, and Vanni picked his bag back up, the three of them following him up to the porch of the large farmhouse, then inside past the screen door. The front door was already propped open. “Martha is gone for the week,” he Tim said, “and Clark was too busy to watch the place the whole time. Honestly, I think this is perfect. Kon and I needed out of the city for a bit.” They headed for the stairs, up them- and Vanni noticed how the wood creaked and groaned beneath his feet. It felt old. It _sounded_ old.

Tim stopped at an open door, gesturing in.

“This is for you,” Tim said, “It’s Clark’s old bedroom. Don’t worry- I already called Blue. He’s down with it.” He looked at Dick and Jason went he said that, as Vanni walked into the room. He set his bag down, turning and looking around at the old book shelves- posters that had _never_ been taken down, despite the fact that it felt like no one had slept in this room in a very long time.

Vanni didn’t know who _Clark_ was by name, but he thought he had heard Alfred and Bruce mention the name before, as well. He shrugged it off and turned back, as Tim was asking his dads,

“Do you guys want to stay for lunch?”

“With your cooking? No way in hell babybird,” Dick teased, reaching out to ruffle his hair, nearly knocking it from the tiny ponytail it was pulled back into. Tim frowned, and Dick only grinned. “But really, we told Bruce the plane wouldn’t be gone long. We’ve gotta get it back.”

Tim shrugged a shoulder, and Vanni moved towards the door, just was Jason turned, held his hand out. “C’mere little wing,” he said, and Vanni took his hand, let Jason tug him into a tight hug. He returned it, as Jason said, “Be good, okay? Listen to Tim and Kon.”

Vanni rolled his eyes, and Jason glanced at Dick.

“He got that from you,” Jason said, as Vanni moved to hug his other dad. Dick only laughed, squeezing tightly.

“Baby, he’s learning sass from the _both_ of us. We’re screwed.” Another squeeze, and Dick let him go. “We’ll see you in a few days, okay?”

Vanni nodded, as Tim said, “let me walk you out,” and the three headed for the stairs. Vanni turned, walked back into the room. He sat down on the bed, bounced a little, before he lifted his feet, clicked the heels of his high-tops together.

The farm reminded him of Dorothy's home, from _The Wizard of Oz_ , and he had the strangest urge to click his heels together a few times. Instead he flopped back, stared up at the ceiling with his arms stretched out. There was something nice, about not being in the penthouse. About not looking at the couch where he had kissed Roy and made himself feel like an _idiot_.

Nice to think that maybe he’d get a bit of a distraction. Looking at Damian’s book and Colin’s flowers had helped, but when he’d been curled up in bed, he’d closed his eyes and thought of Roy again- how badly he’d wanted to kiss him more. How much he wanted to be kissed like Damian had kissed him-

And then he was thinking about Damian kissing him again, and he was just so damn _confused_ his head ached.

“So, is the room okay?” Vanni sat up suddenly, and Tim was leaning in the doorway. He’d pushed his sunglasses up into his hair, was smiling at him. There was a bit of color to his cheeks, like maybe he had spent some time in the sun, before Vanni had arrived. He nodded, and Tim walked in, holding something out to him. Vanni glanced at the folded glasses, before he took them, opening them up and putting them on. “Every diva needs a pair of huge sunglasses,” Tim reasoned, as Vanni glanced around the room. They darkened it considerably, and he was sure it’d be nice, once he got outside.

“Thank you,” Vanni said, signing as he spoke, and Tim just grinned.

“It’s really good to hear you talking. And I see Cass has really been busy teaching you.” Vanni nodded. “I’ll try to keep up. My signing is pretty rusty- be patient with me?” Another nod, and Tim held his hand out, pulled Vanni up from the bed. “C’mon, let’s go have a look around. This place is pretty different from anything you’ve seen, I bet.”

Vanni followed Tim from the room, back down the old stairs. He could see the living room, an old but soft looking couch that had a quilt tossed up over the back. If he turned, he might have caught sight of the dining room, but they were heading for the screen door, pushing past it and out into the heat. It was warmer than Vanni expected, and he watched as Tim tugged at his green plaid shirt, unbuttoning a few bottom buttons and tying it up, around his waist, leaving a good few inches above the waist of his jeans visible.

“I always forget how hot it is out here,” Tim said, pulling his sunglasses down. Vanni shrugged a shoulder, looking out at the massive expanse of land around them. It was mostly green grass now, a large tree out front of the house. “This used to all be working farmland,” Tim said, “But when Mr. Kent passed, Martha- Mrs. Kent- she decided to basically close up. She likes it out here and doesn’t want to move, but she doesn’t have it in her to keep the farm going. And Clark and Kon are too busy to come out and help often enough to keep it going.” Tim glanced over, flashed a little smile at him. “You’ll meet Kon soon, that’s my man. Clark is… his dad, sort of. He’s a bit like you.” Tim stuffed his hands into his jeans. “He’s a clone from Clark and fairly not so nice man. Who hopefully you’ll never have to meet.”

Vanni lifted his head at that, staring at Tim. _A clone?_ That meant he really _was_ like him-

Tim reached out, squeezed Vanni’s shoulder, pointing towards a large barn set off down a dirt path. “Sometime I’ll take you in there to look around. It’s pretty neat. Martha doesn’t have any animals now, but sometimes at night, there’s an owl that takes up residence.” Tim seemed about to continue speaking, when the sound of tires on dirt hit their ears, and they were both turning, watching as a truck pulled up towards the house.

The engine killed, and the moment the door was opening Tim was walking towards it, leaving Vanni to follow.

“Ma really needs a new truck,” the man climbing out said, turning to flash a smile at Tim. “I thought I was going to be pushing it home at one point.”

Tim moved up to him, kissed his cheek- and the man’s hands settled on his bare waist. They were large, in fact _he_ was fairly tall, built solid like Jason was- and against him, Tim seemed tiny.

“I want you to meet our visitor,” Tim said, pulling away and reaching for the man’s hands, only to take them and walk backwards a few steps, guiding him back towards Vanni. “This is Vanni,” he said, letting go with one hand to gesture towards him, as he hung back a few steps. “Vanni, this is my boyfriend, Kon.”

Kon gave a big smile, a single handed wave, and Vanni returned it. “Timmy told me we’re a little similar,” Kon offered, “and boy I can tell. You look just like Dick does.”

Vanni blushed a little at that. Kon looked like _someone_ to him, but it wasn’t exact. He couldn’t place it though-

“I don’t look exactly like anyone,” Kon said, as Tim let go of his hand, headed for the open door of the truck. “Guess that’s a good thing though, looking exactly like a younger Superman might get to be a pain in the ass.”

Vanni blinked, before his jaw went slack. _Superman_? Did that mean that the Clark everyone was talking about was _him_? He’d only ever heard _Superman_ used as a name, during his time with the Court. And only when the Court feared the Bat and his family calling in their metahuman friends.

“Tim, I can get those,” Kon said, hearing his boyfriend rummaging around and turning. He took the few steps back to the door, trying to take the bags Tim was pulling out from the truck. Tim rolled his eyes at him- and as he did so, Kon leaned down, pecked the bridge of his nose affectionately, just missing his sunglasses.

There was a moment where they _both_ smiled, and it was so sweet that Vanni could only watch, could only try to take it in. It was a smile like Jason could give Dick, the kind that radiated an affection there really wasn’t words for- the kind of love that made Vanni feel giddy _for_ them.

And then he blinked, and they were moving in tandem, pulling the grocery bags from the truck, hands full. Vanni ran around the truck, sprinting for the door, thinking the least he could do would be to get it open for them.

*

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Jason asked, standing in their bedroom door as Dick headed towards Vanni’s room. He was tugging his shirt back on, and from where he stood, Jason could see a small bruise forming, on the back of Dick’s neck.

Maybe he’s been a little too _eager_ , the moment they’d gotten home.

“He’s fine,” Dick said, pushing the door open and heading in. Jason frowned, pushing off the doorframe and following, standing towards the foot of the bed as Dick headed for Vanni’s desk.

“I guess I mean do you think he’ll _like_ it?”

“Jay baby, he’s got free range of a damn farm to burn some energy off, and will probably find every flower growing on the Kent property. I think we’ll be hard pressed to get him back.” He reached for a stack of books on Vanni’s desk, shifting them a bit, and Jason shrugged a shoulder.

“Alright, you might be right.” Dick glanced back, grinned, before turning back to the desk, checking on Vanni’s flower. Jason glanced back at the books- and when had they gotten there? He hadn’t even looked that far that morning, when he’d made sure Vanni was packed and ready to go. “Where did those comes from?”

“Huh?” Dick glanced down. “Oh! Apparently Colin gave Vanni flowers. And Damian gave him a book to press them in. I borrowed a few of your dictionaries to add to the weight.” Jason walked over, slid up behind Dick and hooked his arms affectionately around his waist, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“Colin gave him flowers, huh?” He gave Dick a squeeze. “Do we have a heartbreaker on our hands?”

Dick laughed at that- before he glanced back down, caught sight of the spine of the book Damian had given him. Thought of the fact that _apparently Vanni had kissed him_. And… “Maybe we do,” he offered, resting a hand atop both of Jason’s. “I don’t know if I should be a concerned _parent_ about what he told us- or _relieved_ that he’s experiencing something normal.”

“Both,” Jason reasoned, “I think _both_ is the only appropriate answer.” Dick laughed at that, and Jason pulled back, took his arm and turned him from the desk. “Now c’mon, we don’t need to be snooping around his room.”

“I was checking on the flower,” Dick stated, as Jason pulled him into the room.

“Mhm. And that’s the _only_ reason we’re going in there, without his permission.” Dick nodded, and Jason gave his arm a squeeze, before letting go. “Now, I’m heading downstairs. I think I need a good workout. You coming?”

“Didn’t you just get one?” Dick asked, and Jason snorted.

“Babe, a _quickie_ is not a workout. Go a few rounds with me and maybe we’ll go for something a little more _endurance strengthening_.” Jason shot him a wink, heading towards the penthouse door, and Dick was running right after him- _definitely_ thinking he had a little energy to burn.

*

Vanni tossed in the bed, going from his back to one side, facing the wall. Above him, the window was shut, but he could hear the world outside- the bugs and the animals rustling about. He sighed, smacking his hand onto his pillow.

He couldn’t sleep. But it wasn’t the _noise_ keeping him up. Or even the heat- he felt like there was a layer of fire, between his blanket and boxer briefs and skin-

It was that he simply couldn’t get his mind to _turn off_.

He tossed his blanket off, sitting up and turning. He stood up from the bed, stalking over to his bag and pulling his leggings on quickly. He didn’t bother changing out of Damian’s tshirt, just tugged his red high-tops on and headed for the bedroom door. He cracked it open, peeked into the hallway- but the old house was mostly quiet. It creaked and moaned on its own, but he didn’t think anyone else was actually _awake_.

He’d gone to bed before Tim and Kon- but he’d heard them, on the stairs, maybe forty-five minutes ago. A good half hour _after_ he’d tried to go to sleep. Heard Tim’s gentle, muffled laughter- the sound of a brief kiss, before their bedroom door had tugged shut.

He walked on his toes, towards the stairs. The first one creaked beneath him, and he paused- but after a moment when there was nothing, he continued down the stairs. Once he hit the floor, he moved quickly towards the front door, unchaining the lock and flipping the deadbolt, before he cracked it open, just enough to sneak through, as he opened the screen door.

He was careful when he closed them both to be quiet, before he headed for the porch stairs, dropped down on them and rested his arms on his knees, staring out at all that _space_ that surrounded him. Everything was so quiet out here- and yet so _loud_. There wasn’t the faded sound of cars, but the endless chirps of bugs instead.

Vanni closed his eyes, took a deep breath. He hoped maybe getting out of the slightly stuffy room might help him clear his head- but behind his eyelids all he saw were pretty green eyes and that lazy smile of Roy’s that made his stomach feel so tight he simply wanted to _die_. He got that surge of adrenaline when he thought about it, thought about Roy smiling at _him_ like that-

Thought about Roy kissing him, like he had wanted _so badly_.

He bit the inside of his cheek, cursed himself. Jason had _told_ him this wasn’t okay- and if he thought about it, maybe it made sense. Roy _was_ older than him- he was closer to Lian’s age than his own- and while he wasn’t sure how much it even _mattered_ in the end, he figured there was a reason it wasn’t okay, in the moment.

But did that mean that if he _waited_ long enough, it’d be okay?

He sighed, hung his head and reached up, tugged at his hair. Maybe if it was just _that_ , if it was just the fact that he felt like he was on fire when he thought about Roy- it’d be okay. But it _wasn’t_ -

There was the fact that, while he wanted to kiss Roy- he wanted to kiss Damian again, too. _A lot_. Wanted to lay in his bed and kiss him until they were both laughing. Wanted those little innocent pecks on his cheeks- those throat closing kisses from the library-

Those kisses that had made Vanni want to dig his nails right into Damian’s skin.

And even _then_ , there was still _more_. Because beyond all _that_ , there was _Colin_ and the fact that Vanni wondered what it might be like to kiss him too. And what it might be like to watch him kiss Damian.

He groaned, gave his loose hair another tug, before he lifted his head, looked back up at the sky. It was very clear, the stars brighter than he was sure he’d ever seen- he was connecting them into shapeless nothings, in his head, when he heard something. A low sort of _hoot_ , that had him jerking his head. Something flew past- high up, disappeared off into the barn in the distance.

Vanni hesitated maybe ten seconds, before pushing off the steps and heading towards the barn. He jogged over, paused at the large doors and gave one a gentle push. It was heavy, but it gave- unlocked. He pushed enough that he could slip in, and it remained, unmoving, as he walked into the dark barn.

It was hard to see in the corners, but he could see a ladder leading up into the loft above. There were tools hanging on the walls now, dust underneath his feet. He turned in a slow circle, trying to take it all in-

And heard the fluttering of wings. He paused, watched as a shape moved from the loft, flying down and perching on a large hay barrel, a few yards away from him. The owl turned, looked at him with her round, dark eyes, and gave another deep _hoot_.

Vanni simply stared for a moment, before he reached his hand out, held it palm up. The owl blinked, continued to watch, as he took a step towards her. He paused for a moment, and when she didn’t move, he took another step. Another pause, another step-

Before she spread her large wings and beat at the air, launching off the hay barrel and back into the air. She carried herself back up towards the loft, and Vanni watched, mouth slack, eyes wide-

Thinking he hadn’t ever seen something so pretty before. So calm and so gorgeous and so completely in control. He let his arm fall to his side, simply staring up at the loft, before he headed for the ladder. He grasped it, stepped up, climbed slowly. When he could, he peeked up over the floor- found the owl perch by the large open window now, facing the outside world. He didn’t move for a minute, two, three-

He lost track, honestly. But after some time, he carefully finished his climb, sat on his knees and simply watched the owl. She turned her head again, stared at her, and Vanni lifted one hand, gave a small wave.

And then signed _I’m you_ at her. She blinked, and he knew it was silly, but he couldn’t stop himself.

 _I’m an owl too_. He pointed to his dark eyes, still studying hers- and he wondered if maybe his looked like that. Nearly black and shimmering like the endless sky he’d been looking at, before coming into the barn.

_Were his pretty?_

“Vanni,” he whispered, pointing to himself, and the owl gave a _hoot_ that had him giggling. He shifted a little, watched her opening up her wings again- but instead of flying away, she took a step along her perch, gave him another long look.

He nodded, gave another little wave, and she lifted herself up, flew off out the window, into the sky behind the barn. Vanni sat there for a minute, staring at the space the owl had taken up, before he glanced back behind him, shifting until he could dangle one leg off the loft, hook his foot on the ladder. He climbed down carefully, hurrying out of the barn and pulling the door shut, before heading back towards the house.

He was climbing up the stairs to the porch, when he watched the front door open. He paused, and behind the screen door Kon was filling the doorway, looking at him. Vanni stood at the top of the steps, as Kon opened the screen door, stepping out.

“Hey,” he offered, and Vanni lifted one hand, gave a small wave. He felt almost childish, being caught out. Like he wanted to avert his eyes, not look at the man.

But Kon just gave him one of those _just waking_ smiles.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Vanni shook his head, and Kon walked over, settling down on the steps. He wasn’t wearing anything except a pair of flannel pajama pants, and when Vanni stared down, he noticed his back and shoulders was free of the scars he was used to seeing all over his dads’.

It made him, for a moment, overly conscious of every scar on his own back, hidden by the tshirt.

“C’mon, have a seat,” Kon offered, patting the space on the step next to him. Vanni settled down, and Kon folded his arms on his knees, looking out at the space around them. “Do you like the view out here?” Vanni nodded, looking back up at the sky. He pointed towards the stars, and Kon smiled. “Yeah, they’re bright here. A lot more than in any _city_ I’ve been in. You can see so much more.” He reached his hand up, pointing above them. “Here, follow my finger.” He began tracing a shape, and Vanni’s eyes followed, connecting the stars he was tracing. “That’s the constellation _Pegasus_. One of the ones you see during the summer.”

Vanni blinked, staring at the stars again, trying to piece the mythical creature’s picture into the fragments of light in the sky.

“There’s an old book about constellations somewhere in Ma’s bookcase,” Kon said, “Clark got it, when he was a kid I guess. Makes sense he'd be interested in whatever is up there.” Kon sighed, glanced over at Vanni, who liked his eyes, in that moment. Liked something about his face because it was strangely _innocent_ , when it didn’t seem like it should be.

“Are there more?” Vanni whispered, and Kon nodded, looking back up.

“That’s _Lyra_ ,” he said, tracing another shape, “the harp. And that’s-”

“The big dipper.” Vanni and Kon bother turned, and Tim was leaning in the open doorway, in these tiny shorts that seemed to completely disappear beneath Kon’s tshirt. He walked over, settling down on Vanni’s other side. “That’s about all I know.”

Kon grinned, and Tim flashed his boyfriend a smile, before looking at Vanni.

“Trouble sleeping?” He nodded, glanced back down. “Something you want to talk about?”

Vanni inhaled slowly- sucked on his tongue and _thought_ about it. Because he’d talked about it with his dads- _he guessed_. At least, he’d listened.

But had he actually _said_ much.

“I’m confused,” he admitted, reaching out to pluck at his leggings. Next to him, Kon was watching, and Tim had given him a little nod.

“Okay gorgeous,” Tim offered, “What’re you confused about?”

Vanni paused again, looked out at the grass now- made a point to not look at either of the men sitting next to him. Bracketing him in, like his dads did. “I kissed Roy,” he whispered, and Tim gave another nod.

“Jason told me you did,” he offered, “And that’s okay- I mean, you know. Liking him. He’s _hot_ , I know. I’ve been there a little.” He glanced past Vanni towards Kon, who was lovingly rolling his eyes at his boyfriend. “Is it bothering you that you kissed him?”

Vanni shook his head. “No. I did it and I can’t undo it.” He rubbed his hands along his thighs now. “But I want to do it again and I _can’t_.”

“No kiddo, you can’t. Roy’s an adult and you’re a kid- that’s not something that’s okay.”

Vanni sighed. “I know,” he whispered, leaving the _now_ silent. “But I don’t just want to kiss Roy,” he admitted, “I want to kiss Damian too.”

Tim leaned forward, folded his arms on his knees more so he could try to peer past Vanni’s hair. “Oh? Do you like Damian?”

Vanni nodded. “He is nice to me,” Vanni offered, “he smiles a lot. I like when he kisses me.”

“So you’ve already kissed him?” Tim, for his part, was keeping any shock fairly clear of his voice. Vanni nodded again, before he leaned back, settled his hands behind him and stared up at the sky.

“I kissed him, and he told me _Colin_ taught him how to kiss. And then I wanted to kiss Colin. And I wanted _them_ to kiss. And I don’t _understand it_.” It all came out in a single breath, and Vanni wanted to fall back, when he was done. Collapse and stare up at the world from where he lay, exhausted from _all those words_.

Tim glanced over at Kon, and the two for a moment were quiet, before Tim turned, looked down at Vanni and offered him one of the sweetest smiles he had ever seen.

“Vanni,” he said, reaching out to give his knee a squeeze, “that’s _okay_. You can like as many people as you want- you can kiss as many people as you want, as long as they want to kiss you too. There’s _no reason_ it has to be just one person.” Vanni was quiet, and Tim gave his knee another squeeze. “Some people love more than one person. That’s okay.”

Vanni furrowed his brow. He didn’t want to kiss everyone he loved- he loved his dads but he didn’t want to kiss them like this. He loved Tim, but he didn’t want Tim’s hands in his hair like Damian’s could be.

As if catching his confusion, Tim added, “And it’s not always about love. You can just be attracted to multiple people. It’s okay. And it’s _more than okay_ to be confused.” Tim reached down, and when Vanni took his hand, Tim pulled him up. “Kiddo, look at me.” Vanni leveled his eyes with Tim’s, watching them as Tim’s smile was soft, somehow _knowing_. “You are _young_ You’re going to be figuring out a lot of stuff. A lot about yourself. And the fact that you’re confused is okay- someday, you won’t be. And maybe that day is next week, or next year- or ten years from now. _Or more_. It doesn’t matter. This is normal, we all go through it.”

“Really?”

Tim nodded. “Yeah. Your dads did, and I did too. We have to figure out who we’re attracted to- _if_ we even are, to what degree- hell, sometimes you have to spend time figuring out if you’re a boy or a girl or _both_ or neither, and that just adds even more dimension. Point is,” Tim reached out, got his arm around Vanni’s shoulders and tugged him in, “it’s okay to be confused. And it’s okay if you want to kiss everyone. I don’t blame you one bit.”

Vanni tipped his head back, looked up at Tim, who just kept smiling at him- and he was so pretty, so confident, seemed to perfect in his skin-

Vanni just wanted to _be_ him, in that moment. Because he seemed to have the answers to everything.

“But you know,” Tim added, “figuring all of this out is _tiring_. How about we try to get some sleep, and you can resume self discovery in the morning.” Vanni gave a nod, and Tim released him. Vanni went to stand up, but Kon was already up and leaning down, scooping him up and tossing him over his bare shoulder. Vanni gave a surprised squeak, before it dissolved into laughter, as Kon kept a firm hold on his legs.

For a moment, Tim simply smiled up at them both, before he stood up as well, heading for the door. Vanni let the meta carry him inside, content to take one last look up at the sky, before it disappeared behind the door.

*

Dick heard Damian’s voice, the moment he was stepping out of his car. He shut the door, headed for the Manor- and chose to walk around it, instead of towards the front door. He paused once he had finally looped back to the back yard, stuffed his hands in his pockets and watched as Damian tossed a ball, cheering Titus on as the dog bounded after it- burying back only to have Damian throw it again.

He smiled to himself. Damian laughed, after the next toss- sounded _young_ when he did, actually his own age. Dick found it was so easy to forget that he was still a kid- and yet, so easy to forget that he was growing up.

“Good to see he’s still getting around alright,” he finally said, as Titus bolted after the ball again. Damian jerked towards his voice, staring as Dick began walking towards him.

“Grayson,” he said flatly, “What are you doing here?”

“Among other things, I came to see your dad.”

“-tt-” Damian turned when Titus returned, took the ball and tossed it again. “Father is in the city.”

“I know. He’ll be back in maybe two hours. I said _among other things_.” He paused by Damian’s side, glanced out to watch Titus rifling around in some of the shrubbery for the ball. “Those other things being seeing you.”

For a moment, a single, shining moment, Dick saw a flash of joy in Damian’s eyes. Unguarded, _real_ joy- and he felt terrible, for a moment-

Because it had been a while, since he’d really just spent _time_ with Damian. Even before Vanni, he’d been _busy_.

The joy was gone, hidden by mock annoyance, a moment later. “Joyous,” Damian said with a roll of his eyes, and Dick nodded towards one of the benches.

“Can we talk for a bit?”

Damian shrugged a shoulder, followed Dick towards the bench. They settled down as Titus returned, and seeing them sitting, dropped down happily in the grass to soak up the sun.

“How have you been?” Dick asked, and Damian folded his arms.

“Fine.”

“Up to anything exciting?”

“You would be aware if I was.”

Dick sighed. “ _Damian_.”

Damian paused a moment, before he exhaled very softly. “I instructed Pennyworth to give some of the many boxes of storage a look through, to see if perhaps there is any old sheet music lying around from past generations. I’ve been taken up with my violin more recently. And I believe I may start working with oils again. The weather has been nice enough that I could set up outside.”

“That’s more like it,” Dick said, his smile soft. “Lord only knows what Alfred will find in those boxes.”

“Knowing this family, _bats_.” They both laughed at that, and Damian’s smile began to tug at his lips. “How are you?” He asked it like he _meant_ it, like the facade of annoyance was lifting, melting quickly. Quicker with Dick than with most.

“Busy, you know. Jason’s keeping me in line.” Damian nodded, and Dick elbowed him. “I think there’s someone _missing_ from that question?”

Damian frowned. “-tt- I assume Todd is doing just as well as you are.” Dick shook his head, gave Damian this _knowing_ look, and the kid flushed, just slightly, along those cheeks that had lost so much of their childhood roundness. Made him look so much more like Talia now that his cheekbones seemed so defined, than how he used to look more like Bruce. “And Vanni?”

“Good. He’s with Tim and Kon right now, actually. They’re out at the Kent farm.”

“...Oh.” Damian cleared his throat. “Well, that… nevermind.”

Dick quirked a brow. “Don’t nevermind me. Finish the thought.”

“I was just going to ask if perhaps he wanted to… come over, or something.” Damian shifted. “But I see he is busy.”

“He’d jump on the chance if he was home. I know he would.” Dick paused, watched Damian only nod, very slowly, before he cleared his throat. “Listen, little D, I want to talk to you about something. And I don’t want it to be the focus of our time together- because I miss you, kid, and I do want to spend time with you. But I’m here and since we’re talking about him…” he paused for a moment, took a breath, “Did you kiss Vanni?”

Damian’s cheeks _properly_ flushed now. His mouth opened, and for a moment he floundered for words- but all he came up with was, “ _what_?”

“You can be honest,” Dick said, “it’s _me_ after all. Just… Jason and I had to have a talk with him over something that happened with Roy, and he said he’s kissed you before.”

Damian shifted, looked down at his lap, then the ground- before he finally mumbled, “Perhaps.”

Dick smiled. “Okay. I’m not mad Damian. Trust me. I just… didn’t expect it. And I just want to make sure you are both… you know. Safe.” Damian snapped his head up at that, and Dick reached up, rubbed the back of his neck. “Do we need to-”

“Grayson, you do _not_ need to discuss intimacy with me.” Damian’s jade eyes were large, but Dick could only sigh with relief. “That topic has been properly covered, thank you very much. And is not necessary in these circumstances.”

“Thank fucking _god_ because giving that talk once was hard enough. And I let Jason do most of the talking.”

“And Todd survived?”

“Barely,” Dick offered with a chuckle, and that got Damian to smile, for a moment. “But that’s not the point. I just want you to know that… whatever’s going on, no one is going to be mad. You’re kids. You’re figuring stuff out.”

“I am not a _child_ , Grayson.”

“I know you’re not. But you’re not done learning about yourself and who you are yet, either. Just… know it’s okay.” Dick paused, and then added, “He talked about Colin too.”

Damian’s cheeks tinged again. “I should have never admitted I have kissed Colin. The world is going to know at this rate.”

Dick chuckled at that. “I just said he _mentioned_ him. I didn’t say anything about _that_.”

Damian couldn’t possibly get any redder.

And yet, he _was_.

“Are you and Colin,” Dick paused, waved his hand, “you know?”

“ _Dating_?” Dick nodded. “Grayson he is my _best friend_.”

“Pretty much your only one.”

Damian reached out and smacked his arm. Hard. “He is my friend and simply because he… is more experienced and taught me a few things does not mean we are _together_.”

“You’d be cute together,” Dick teased, “You know, I always thought you two could be a thing.” Damian glanced away- and there was something there, Dick could tell. If he was to guess- he figured Damian might be just as confused as Vanni was. Maybe _more_. “I’m sorry,” he said, reaching out and squeezing Damian’s shoulder, “For teasing you. It just means I love you. And you know, you can talk to me. I know your dad isn’t really who you wanna go to about this. I’ve always got an ear waiting to listen for you.”

Damian nodded, and Dick pulled him into a one armed hug- one that Damian didn’t fight. Instead he reached both his arms around Dick, squeezed firmly, and Dick kissed the top of his head.

“Just be nice to my kid,” he whispered, “And I’ll make sure he’s nice to you too. I figure Colin’s going to be a _darling_ to you both.”

“-tt- stop making it sound as if any of us _are_ anything.” Damian rested his cheek against Dick’s shoulder, and Dick didn’t ask him to move. Just rubbed his back, through his tshirt. “What happened with Vanni and Harper?”

Dick sighed. “I probably should let him explain. But… well. He kissed Roy. And we just had to have a little talk about what’s appropriate, and what isn’t.”

Damian straightened up, pulling back at that. “He… did what?”

Dick frowned. “He kissed Roy. And I think poor Roy probably had a heart attack.” He chuckled, but Damian’s face stayed oddly serious- and whatever was in his eyes, he couldn’t quite put a name to it. But he swore, for a moment, it could have been _jealousy_. “Everything’s cleared up now though,” Dick added, “that’s part of the reason he’s out with Tim. We thought a little change of scenery might be nice. He was… upset.”

And the jealousy turned to a sort of _sadness_ \- and Dick couldn’t believe, for a minute, that this was Damian. His Damian. The _bratty kid_ everyone seemed to think didn’t _care_. Dick had always known that was a lie- but now, it was blatantly obvious.

“Anyway,” Dick started, standing up, “Your dad is going to be out for a while. How about we go get into some trouble. I’m thinking ice cream.”

Damian rolled his eyes, but he was smiling when he said, “Grayson, you are _always_ thinking about food. Ice cream happens to be at the top of that list.”

Dick shrugged a shoulder. “Are you saying no?”

“Do you take me for a fool?” Damian was up already, and Titus was hurrying after him as he sprinted towards the Manor, to secure the dog inside. Dick watched him go, smiling to himself-

And whatever was going on, he didn’t want to push or pry or _influence_. He just wanted to make sure the kids were alright- but knowing them, knowing _who they were_ , and where they were coming from- he was sure they’d be just fine, in the end.

*

“You look like you’re melting,” Tim said, and Vanni looked up from where he was sitting on the front porch. He was leaning against one of the railings bracketing the stairs, his hair down but shoved back out of his face. He said nothing- despite that it was true. It was too hot for his cardigan but he was in it anyway, and his leggings felt like they were suffocating his legs. Tim frowned, held the screen door open. Inside, Vanni could hear Kon in the kitchen- singing along to whatever music he was playing off his phone. “C’mon, I think we need to fix this.”

Vanni frowned, confused, but stood up anyway, headed inside. It was a little cooler in the house, from the shade it provided, but the air was still heavy. Tim reached back, took his hand, led him upstairs. Vanni followed into he and Kon’s room, where Tim shut the door, before heading over to the bed, pulling a large black shopping bag from beneath the bed and settling it atop.

“I came prepared,” Tim offered, rummaging around before pulling out a pair of- rather short- denim shorts. “I think these should fit you alright.”

Vanni moved closer, inclined his head to look at them- before he shook his head. Tim didn’t seem overly shocked by his refusal, be only set them down and turned to face the kid properly.

“Why not?” It wasn’t _pushy_ , it was just curious.

Vanni bit at his lip, before he gestured down to his legs. “Can’t,” he said, swallowing. Tim’s eyes softened, and he reached out to brush Vanni’s hair back, as it tried to slide over his shoulders.

“Listen gorgeous,” Tim said, “You don’t have to. You can hide as much skin as you want and that’s fine- but I don’t wanna see you be uncomfortable. You are beautiful. Here.” Tim pushed the bag out of the way, sat on the bed and lifted one leg to perch his foot on the edge. “Look at my legs.” Tim’s shorts were _sinful_ , left his thighs completely exposed. Vanni leaned over, as Tim traced one of his many scars. “I’m covered in scars all over, including my legs.” He traced another one, before pointing to his calf, which had a rather large, heavy one- looked like it had come from a hefty hunting knife. “I love my legs,” Tim said, smiling, “I love their shape and I love the scars. They tell me parts of my own story. And if the world has a problem with them, _then I’ve got a problem with the world_.”

Vanni continued to worry at his lip. He did think Tim’s legs were pretty- they hard firm muscle that gave them perfect curves, and his scars somehow weren’t _ugly_ in the ways Vanni would have expected.

Still… scars were _different_. Vanni reached up under his shirt, grasped the waistband of his leggings and suddenly shoved them down to his knees, flopping down on the bed. He’d forgone his boxer briefs in favor of less fabric, had worn the panties Jason had bought him for his dress.

“Different,” Vanni said, gesturing towards his dusky skin. Tim glanced down, and only smiled.

“Kiddo,” he said, “your legs are gorgeous. You don’t have to be embarrassed or ashamed over your skin _ever_.” Tim leaned one arm up high onto his knee, resting his cheek on it. He was smiling, sweet and lazy. “Your veins aren’t even noticeable kid. At least, not that much.And even if they _were_ , you have every right to still show off. You’re beautiful despite them- and you’re beautiful _because_ of them.” Vanni glanced down again, before Tim was rustling about, standing up and picking the shorts back up. “Give them a try? It’s just you and me.”

Vanni glanced back up, before he nodded. He toed his shoes off, pushed his leggings the rest of the way down, and Tim handed him the shorts, before he went back to rummaging through the bag. Vanni stood up, stepping into them and pulling them up, taking a moment to rebutton them, before he paused-

“There’s a mirror on the other side of the closet door,” Tim offered, stealing a single glance. Vanni nodded, headed for the closet and pulled it open, looking at the full body mirror-

And finding, it didn’t crack. He inclined his head, turned a little- and maybe his veins didn’t seem as dark, as they once had. If anything, the only thing he saw for a moment was his own dark skin.

“So?” Tim asked, and Vanni glanced back at him.

“I.. like them,” he said, “but I don’t know…”

“Well, you know, you can always wear tights under them. Way lighter than leggings, and we still get a glimpse of your pretty skin- _which mind you I’m pretty damn jealous of_.” Vanni giggled over that, reaching up to cover his mouth, before he walked back over to Tim. Tim gestured towards the bag, and Vanni glanced down into it- saw the piles of clothing. “There’s some in there. I know your dad bought you some- but I bought you _better_ ones I’m sure. And some more shorts. A few tank tops. Crop tops.” Vanni glanced up, and Tim grinned, plucking a very soft looking shirt up that seemed so short, Vanni imagine it would barely go beneath his ribs. “Don’t worry kiddo. You can layer a tank top under it if you want. But if you feel comfortable, you don’t have to.”

Vanni nodded, and Tim pulled out a different shirt, handing it out towards him.

“Now lose the cardigan and tshirt before you finish melting away on me.” Vanni giggled, tugging his cardigan off and tossing it on the bed, taking the shirt from Tim. He pulled his tshirt off turned as he did so- and for a moment, Tim got a good look at his back, at the heavy lacing of scars there- heavier than his own, because it seemed like all the trauma this kid had ever experienced was concentrated there.

For a moment, a split second, Tim’s smile faded, and he looked at Vanni like it was a wonder he was even standing there. But Vanni never saw it- because once he’d tugged his shirt on, was turning to face Tim again, Tim’s smile was back. “Like it?” He asked, and Vanni looked down at the soft, creamy fabric- scattered with tiny, indiscernible golden birds.

He nodded- shot a glance at his arms, where his veins lay heavier where they webbed by the crook of his elbows. But ignored it, to look back at Tim.

“Now,” Tim said, carefully turning Vanni and collecting his hair. “Let’s get this mane outta your pretty face.” He pulled a hair tie from his wrist, secured Vanni’s hair in a lazy bun at the side of his neck, before he wrapped an arm up around his shoulders and chest, leaning down to kiss his temple. “Perfect kiddo.”

Vanni reached up to squeeze Tim’s arm, before he pulled away, hurrying back towards the mirror. He studied himself for a moment- before a grin spread across his face.

He liked it. He liked it, despite seeing those veins that made him feel _strange_ , that he knew made him stand out. He liked it and he suddenly wanted to bounce up into Tim’s arms and _thank him_ , because his skin was a struggle, everyday, still.

Tim was holding his hand out, when Vanni turned around. He hurried over, tugging his shoes back on, and took it, let Tim lead him downstairs. By the time they hit the floor, Vanni was _laughing_ because he felt so good, and Tim was grinning too, walking as far away as possible while their hands were still linked.

“Now we just have to get you to get a little pop and sway in your hips when you walk,” Tim added, “and you’ll turn every head in Gotham.”

Tim let go of Vanni’s hand, and Vanni watched the way he walked. His hips _did_ move more than Vanni had ever noticed Dick or Jason’s, and Vanni lifted his head, as Tim turned and paused in the kitchen doorway, trying to mimic it.

Tim _whistled_ , which had Vanni reaching up to cover his mouth as he laughed again, having to stop moving so he wouldn’t fall over. Tim burst into laughter as well, and suddenly Kon poked his head out around his boyfriend.

“What the hell are you two doing?” He asked, smiling, and Vanni straightened up.

“Timmy dressed me,” he said, “he’s teaching me how to walk.”

Kon quirked up a brow, before he hooked an arm around his boyfriend. “You are going to get yourself into _serious_ trouble with his dads,” Kon teased, and Tim just grinned.

“Oh, I know. Don’t act like I can’t take the two of them.” Tim spun his finger, and Vanni took the cue, turning and walking away, swaying his hips like Tim had instructed. “He’s going to break hearts, one day.”

“Sounds like someone I know.” Kon squeezed his boyfriend again, chanced a soft kiss to his neck, which had Tim humming his approval. He smiled over it, just as Vanni turned again, before he ran over, reaching out to clutch one hand at the pocket of Tim’s short- the other finding Kon’s thigh and gripping at his jeans.

“Can we show my dads?” He asked. “I want them to see! I’m _cute_!”

“You’re always cute,” Tim said, “but hell yes we can! Selfie time!” Tim pulled away from his boyfriend, digging his phone from his pocket and taking Vanni by the hand, dragging him towards the couch. The whole way, Vanni couldn’t stop laughing.

*

Dick heard the Manor door opening, from where he was sitting with Damian. The kid had his sketchbook out, his legs stretched up over Dick’s lap. The sound of the door had him looking up, however, and he only nodded, shifting so Dick could stand up. Knew that Dick had things to discuss with Bruce, important things.

They’d talked. Over ice cream. Over the drive to the city. And it had been good- like it used to be. Dick needed to do this more often, he knew. Knew Damian was good for him, just like he was good for Damian.

“I’ll catch you later little prince,” he said, ruffling Damian’s hair. Damian nodded, as Dick headed out of the room, back towards the entrance foyer. Bruce was heading for the stairs, loosening his tie- paused when he saw Dick.

“Dick.”

“Hey.” Dick paused, stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Can we talk?”

Bruce glanced at his watch, before he nodded, motioning for Dick to follow him. They headed upstairs, towards Bruce’s room. The moment Dick was shutting the door, Bruce was tossing his jacket onto his bed, tugging his tie off. Looking like he was ready to shed his skin entirely.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Vanni,” Dick said, and Bruce paused the buttons he was working on to glance back at him. “He’s okay,” Dick said, “Just… now that we’re… moving past the Court, that we’re really settling in. Well, Jason and I know there’s some things we really need to consider. To plan out.” Bruce hummed, got his button down open and tossed that onto the bed as well, moving towards his dresser. He pulled a polo shirt out, tugged it on, before he turned, glanced at Dick.

“I’m not going to get any privacy, am I?” He asked, as he reached for the button of his slacks. Dick snorted over that.

“Bruce, I’ve seen you naked I don’t know _how_ many times. I live in a house where pants are basically optional.” He folded his arms, and Bruce shook his head, continued the process of undressing- tossing his slacks onto his bed as well before he hunted for a more comfortable pair. “Anyway, Jason and I both agree it’s time to get serious about Vanni’s education.”

“I presume you mean schooling, and not education like _I_ offered you.”

Dick nodded. “Jason would kill you if you offered that to our kid- just saying. He’s still very adamant about keeping Vanni as removed from this as possible. He doesn’t want to see vigilante kids anymore.” Bruce, now properly dressed, glanced over at Dick- and Dick saw a flash of guilt, for a moment. “He’s not going to get his way with that,” Dick added, “you and I both know kids in this family will always get into trouble. But I think Vanni is okay being fairly removed from it too. He’s been immersed in that world for so long, there’s so much for him to learn now that I think he’s fine stepping away.”

Another nod. “So, schooling?”

“Right. We can’t just… put him into school. We know that. Besides him being so far behind, that might be too much for him, emotionally. Mentally. And even if it wasn’t- like I said. He’s behind. He can’t read a single word, Bruce. He’s _smart_ , we all know that. Look how quickly he took to signing. How well his speech has come along. But this still takes time.”

Another nod. “Let me guess- you want a private tutor?”

“Yeah. We do. But… we need someone _good_. Someone who _you_ would approve of, Bruce.”

That had Bruce staring. “You want my help?”

“More than your help. We need proper background checks, yes- but we want your _input_. We want your gut feeling on a person. This is our kid and his future, and we just want the best for him. And you’ve… well, you’ve given us the best before. We trust you.”

“Those are your words-”

“Jason echoes them,” Dick said, “Trust me. He’s on board. I wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t- that’s not how we work. We’re not about to go behind each other’s backs. Especially not with something important. _Especially not with our kid_. So… what do you say? Will you help?”

Bruce, very slowly, smiled then. “Of course,” he said, walking over to Dick, getting his arm around his shoulders as he reached for the door, pushing it open. “Do you even need to ask?”

Dick smiled, because _no_ , he really didn’t need to. He knew that.

*

“Careful- are those dry yet?” Tim yelled, as Vanni shoved away from the kitchen table, when he heard Kon tossing open the screen door and yelling for him to come into the yard.

“Think so!” Vanni yelled back, holding his hands up to look at his nails. Tim had painted them a deep purple, to match his, and Vanni _adored_ it. When Tim had suggested it he wasn’t sure if it would be silly- but he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to see bare nails again.

He tossed the screen door back open, and Kon was waiting at the base of the stairs. He was grinning at Vanni, holding out one hand, and Vanni ran to him, took it and let the large man pull him in.

“There’s a few rules,” Kon said, as he hoisted Vanni up, who wrapped his arms around his neck. “Number one, don’t let go. Number two- trust me. And number three, _don’t let go_.”

Vanni nodded, wrapped his legs around Kon’s waist, as Tim appeared in the doorway, smiling at them. They’d told Vanni, over lunch, _so casually_ , that Kon could fly. It stemmed from a discussion- which no one really could remember how it even started- how alike he was to Clark, which Vanni appreciated. Because he knew he was like Dick in a lot of ways-

But slowly, he was realizing he was also _very_ different.

Vanni had wanted to go then- but Kon had said it’d be better to wait until it was dark. And it had felt like the longest day of his _life_ -

“Tighter,” Kon said, and Vanni squeezed his legs. Kon kept one arm locked around him, before he gave Tim a little wave- and just like that, suddenly, they weren’t on the ground.

Vanni stared as the house came into view, and suddenly they were _above_ it. He squeezed his arms around Kon’s neck tighter, mouth opening in pure awe, as they hovered above it and the barn.

“We’re flying!” He exclaimed, which had Kon laughing.

“Told you,” he said. He lifted them higher, higher- and suddenly the house was growing _small_ , like a speck. Vanni gave a little squeal of joy, as Kon said, “look up!”

Vanni did. He tipped his head back and stared up at the stars, and god, they seemed so _big_ in that moment. Huge and sparkling down at him, and he tried to remember the shapes Kon had pointed out, the night before. Tried to trace them in his mind, as Kon slowed their ascent, until they were hovering.

It was beautiful, up here. Colder, but Vanni didn’t mind- Kon was warm and he felt _safe_ with the way he held him. He took a deep breath, and it was so different from city air, _crisp_ in a way that cleared his lungs. He smiled, lifted his head properly and leaned in, kissed Kon’s cheek before he could even think about it.

Kon only laughed, gave him a good squeeze. “Tim loves when I bring him up here,” Kon admitted, “Must be a bird thing.” He winked, and Vanni giggled. “Hold tight, how about we pick up a little speed?” Vanni nodded, squeezed his legs, and Kon took off then, racing through the air, bringing them down lower just to abruptly turn back up, rocket back up well above the house and barn.

Tim had moved onto the lawn now, was staring up at watching, and Vanni yelled more than once “Timmy look!” As they rushed by. He felt so utterly _alive_ that by the time Kon finally lowered them back down to the ground, he was out of breath from laughing so much.

Tim was still smiling at them, laughing as Kon very carefully settled Vanni back down. His hair was free of its earlier bun and a complete mess, but he didn’t even care. He was bouncing on his feet, felt like he suddenly had endless energy to burn.

“Maybe I’ll fly you home,” Kon said, smiling over how _happy_ the kid was. “Instead of forcing your dads to borrow Bats’ plane again.”

“Can you?” Vanni turned, got his hands in Kon’s shirt and looked up at him with huge, dark eyes. “Please?” Kon laughed and nodded, ruffled Vanni’s hair, before the kid gave him another hug.

“Now, c’mon back inside,” Tim said, “I made popcorn. That couch is calling to us.”

Vanni kept smiling, pulling away from Kon and bolting past Tim, heading back inside the house.

*

It was late- Vanni didn’t even know what time- when Tim, yawning and half asleep, grew distracted by his phone lighting up a few times. They were on the couch, Kon leaning into the crook the arm and back made- asleep for the past twenty minutes- with Tim nestled in securely to him. Vanni had stretched out into Tim’s lap, at his legs pushed up onto the remaining arm of the couch, watching the old movie and deciding he liked how everyone used to smile in these.

The popcorn bowl was on the coffee table, long since empty.

“Hey kiddo,” Tim said, pausing to yawn. “How’d you like to see Dami tonight?”

Vanni tipped his head back, confused. He knew Gotham was very far away- he didn’t see a way for him to see Damian. Not with Kon sleeping.

“He’s still awake,” Tim said, shaking his phone slightly. “He wanted to know if you were. If you want, I can log into my Skype, and you can see him.” Vanni frowned, still confused, and Tim added, “It’s a program that runs a camera so you can both see each other and talk.”

Vanni sat up then, turning and nodding. He was still sad he had missed Damian, when they’d gone to the Manor to get the plane that had brought him out here- and these past few days left him feeling like he had so much he wanted to share with the teen.

“Okay, c’mon. Let’s go upstairs.” Vanni climbed off the couch, and Tim followed. Kon mumbled something, but didn’t wake up- and Vanni watched as Tim shot him the sweetest little glance, before ushering Vanni towards the stairs. Vanni ran up them, the wood creaking beneath his feet, as Tim continued to work on his phone.

Vanni tossed open his bedroom door, headed over to the bed and dropped down onto it, turning and watching as Tim held his phone out, said, “Can you hear my babybat?”

“Drake, the world can _always_ hear you.”

That was Damian’s voice. _That was Damian’s voice_. Vanni felt a sudden rush through his body, adrenaline and butterflies- and he was positively _giddy_.

“Funny, brat,” Tim said with a loving wink, before he headed over to Vanni, turned his phone around and held it out-

And on the screen, was Damian. The moment Vanni saw him, Vanni grinned, and Damian, a moment later, smiled back. Vanni reached up and took the phone, and Tim headed back for the door.

“Have fun,” he said, before he stepped out, tugged the door shut behind him.

“Hey,” Damian said, and Vanni swallowed, kept smiling.

“Hi.”

“Grayson said you were with Drake and his clone. Are you having fun?”

Vanni nodded. Because, honestly, _he was_. He wasn’t sure he ever wanted to leave this place, it was so peaceful, so pretty- and there were so many flowers, Tim promised to let him see, tomorrow, all over the property. And Kon would take him flying more-

And yet, barely a moment after the nod, he said, “I miss you.”

Because it was _true_. He missed his dads and he missed Damian and he wanted them all there. He wanted to show Damian the barn. Wanted him to see the pretty owl and what the world looked like from that loft window.

He wanted to kiss him there, and he couldn’t explain why.

Damian’s smile softened. “I miss you too,” he admitted, “Maybe when you come home, you’d like to come over? Spend another weekend at the Manor? Colin asked about you. A few times.”

Vanni perked up over that. He wanted to see Damian’s friend again- his friend, he supposed as well. And could only imagine what it’d be like for both of them to be there. To hide in the barn like it was their own secret place, to look at the stars and try to find the shapes- to make their own.

Vanni nodded. “I’d like that,” he said, as he flopped back into the pillows, holding the phone up. “I’d like that a lot.”

And when Damian smiled again, Vanni’s heart was in his throat, his pulse hammering in his veins- and it felt so damn good that he was sure he’d found a single moment of paradise, that night.


End file.
